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Caldera The Almighty Buck

SCO Wants to License Europe 540

Posted by michael from the dreaming-big dept.
MacEnvy writes "It looks like SCO isn't letting up - they've decided to expand their war on Linux to other countries. According to Internet Week, the company will be offering its Intellectual Property License in the UK and other European countries starting February 1. Whether Europeans will buy the licenses has yet to be seen." Motley Fool has chipped in on SCO's chances.
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SCO Wants to License Europe More

SCO Wants to License Europe

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  • Ahem... (Score:5, Funny)

    by daeley ( 126313 ) * on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:33PM (#8004361) Homepage
    I had a company named SCO...
    It died!
    It died!
    McBride said they owned Unix...
    He lied!
    He lied!
    Why oh why is my company dead?
    Couldn't IBM lawyers sue me instead?

  • Germany (Score:3, Funny)

    by shadowbearer ( 554144 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:34PM (#8004369) Homepage Journal
    Somehow I doubt it...

    SB

    • Re:France (Score:5, Funny)

      by asyky ( 740855 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @10:06PM (#8004542)

      Scene at french castle as sco's lawyers arrive looking for their money

      Frenchman 1: Uh c'est sco.
      Frenchman 2: Quoi?
      FM1: Les litigious bastards [sco.com]
      FM2: Ohhhh...oui! sco.
      FM1: Fetchez le vache!
      FM2: Uhhh?
      FM1: Fetchez le vache

      Mooing noise. Cow is seen flying over wall of french castle. Sco's lawyers run away screaming "run away. run away".

  • This is good! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Caeda ( 669118 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:37PM (#8004379)
    Now not only can they be slaughtered in the US courts, but the rest of the world can get in on picking them apart too!

  • Oh no! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Within the week they will have conquered France!

    • France Surrenders (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      This Just In ...

      BBC News ...

      Within two hours of receiving the SCO demand letter, President Chirac hastily convened the French Parlimant. By a virtual unanimous vote, 1 member (a Linux user) from the Assembly abstaining, France has agreed to surrender.

      The SCO lawyers are expected on Monday to parade down the Champs Elysees prior to accepting France's surrendertrain.

      • Ugh stop this cliche (Score:5, Insightful)

        by egg troll ( 515396 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @11:08PM (#8004846) Homepage Journal
        The French fought valiently in WW2. Unfortunately the Germans were a vastly superior military and quickly overwhelmed the French army. However the French didn't simply give in, despite a puppet gov't being installed. Instead they continued to fight back as the French Resistance. Many brave Frenchmen (and women) died battling the Nazi's who'd taken over their country.

        This cliche is false, and its been beaten to death. Let's put it to rest.
        • 1) it's a fun cliche.
          2) totally inaccurate.
          One thing us Americans have to remember is that though rance did have somewhat of an implosion in WW-II (not as much as most people think) they had in recent memory slogged through a very bloody war in which their land was one of the main battle fronts. They were kinda drained.

          Their last major conflict was Algeria. If anything they kicked too much ass. They became too brutal, killing and repressing civilians to clamp down on the independence movement. Their br

          • Re:Ugh stop this cliche (Score:3, Insightful)

            by xcomm ( 638448 )
            >>> Their last major conflict was Algeria. If anything they kicked too much ass. They became too brutal, killing >>> and repressing civilians to clamp down on the independence movement. Their brutality had won, but at a >>> cost they didn't want to pay.

            Today:

            The USAs last major conflict is Iraq. If anything they kicked too much ass. They became too brutal, killing and repressing civilians to clamp down on the independence movement. Their brutality had won, but...

            What is the cos

    • Re:Oh no! (Score:2, Funny)

      by kfg ( 145172 )
      True, in WWII the French reputation suffered greatly in the eyes of the world.

      It wasn't always that way though and the French have learned from their mistake and gotten back to basics.

      In WWI the French were able to stem the German onslaught, transfering an entire army overnight in taxi cabs rounded up from the streets of Paris and deliver them where needed with pinpoint accuracy.

      Only this time those cabs are all going to be filled with lawyers armed with the Code Napleon.

      Think about that (but not too lo

  • The real news here... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mellon ( 7048 ) * on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:38PM (#8004385) Homepage
    ...is the Motley Fool article. A lot of people on Wall Street pay attention to them, or pay attention to people who pay attention to them. And they've said, pretty unequivocally, that things are looking very bad for SCO. That's not going to do nice things to SCO's stock price.

    Well, we'll see, of course. Past performance does not guarantee future results, et cetera...

    • Re:The real news here... (Score:5, Funny)

      by metlin ( 258108 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:46PM (#8004443) Journal
      I love the way the Motley Fool article ended -

      Seth Jayson is currently struggling through a new Linux install on a computer he built from an old wood crate. SCO may serve his papers at FoolishSeth@sethj.com.

      Hahaha! If _that_ is not snubbing SCO, I do not know what is.

    • Re:The real news here... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by poopie ( 35416 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @10:06PM (#8004543) Journal
      You're right.

      So, if Wall Street people read that, they might decide that their SCOX holdings that have lost 10% over the last 5 days [yahoo.com] no longer look so good, and start dumping.

      Perhaps _now_ would be a good time to take stock advice from Slashdot??

    • Re:The real news here... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by MuParadigm ( 687680 ) <jgabriel66@yahoo.com> on Friday January 16, 2004 @10:56PM (#8004792) Homepage Journal

      Problem is, a SEC filing, by SCO, today, reveals that the Bay Star / Royal Bank of Canada PIPE investment in SCO is treated as a derivative in SCO's books, such that if the stock goes down by a dollar, SCO books it as a million dollar *profit*. If the stock goes up by a dollar, it gets booked as a million dollar loss.

      The numbers are approximate, but they come from SCO's SEC filing; in other words, they're not just bullshit numbers I made up -- they're bullshit numbers SCO made up. But likely to be how SCO will book their stock variations on their SEC filings going forward.

      Anyway, this means that Darl has an interest in the stock price closing down at the end of the quarter, as he'll be able to book the loss in value as profit. It also means that he'll be interested in seeing the stock go up, damn the impact on GAAP numbers, once he gets his stock option bonus for four consecutive profitable (Pro Forma) quarters.

      By the way, it's still not clear whether Darl's bonus is based on Pro Forma or GAAP profits, but given the extent of book-cooking that took place to show a Pro Forma profit for the last quarter.... Well, I can't see why Darl would do it unless he was getting *something* for showing the Pro Forma profit, so I'm guessing that's what his future bonus is based upon.

  • Linux is a Penguin, not a tiger!
    Some people have told me they don't think a fat penguin really embodies the grace of Linux, which just tells me they have never seen a angry penguin charging at them in excess of 100mph. They'd be a lot more careful about what they say if they had.

    -- Linus Torvalds

  • One possible solution for SCO to get a response (Score:3, Funny)

    by Dukeofshadows ( 607689 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:39PM (#8004397) Journal
    They could always threaten the French military.

  • SCO is licensing Europe? (Score:5, Funny)

    by winkydink ( 650484 ) * <sv.dude@gmail.com> on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:39PM (#8004398) Homepage Journal
    How much for France? Good food, hot chicks... I'm there.

    • Re:SCO is licensing Europe? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Hi_2k ( 567317 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:54PM (#8004481) Journal
      One SCO Freedom liscence: 699 Billion dollars.
      One ticket to Paris: $400
      Someone from slashdot getting a date with a hot french girl? Impossible.


      There are some things money cannot possibly buy... For everything else try Ebay.

  • Unlikely that Europeans will buy into this scam (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dexterpexter ( 733748 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:39PM (#8004400) Journal
    The U.S.-based SCO has yet to successfully get Americans to buy into their licensing scam. I do not see why any European countries would either.

    I suspect that SCO will be mocked and laughed at by the Europeans just the same as we Americans do. Finally! A humor that transcends boundaries!

    • Re:Unlikely that Europeans will buy into this scam (Score:5, Funny)

      by pla ( 258480 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @10:02PM (#8004524) Journal
      I suspect that SCO will be mocked and laughed at by the Europeans just the same as we Americans do. Finally! A humor that transcends boundaries!

      Ah, humor... Everyone appreciates a good joke.

      Perhaps SCO will try to go after the Middle East next, and we can finally achieve world peace by all having a great laugh at SCO's dying attempts to boost the value of Darl's stock options.

    • Re:Unlikely that Europeans will buy into this scam (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Saven Marek ( 739395 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @11:05PM (#8004827)
      Europe is a completely different story to the US when it comes to how they'll handle companies talking crap. So far it's just the UK and Italy, but if they try to push any further they'll run into problems.

      Like Germany, there is a lot more restriction in many parts of europe of what is allowed to be said. "Free Speech" may not exist as a constitutionally bound concept in many parts of europe, if you don't have the responsibility to back it up. SCO simply don't have that.

      Along with the general anti-american attitude of much of europe I see it far more likely a country will tell SCO to piss right off until they have solid proof, putting the burden on SCO to play their hand and get the legal wrangling out of the way before they can play the media with their lies, half truths and misinformation

      nude macgirls webcam [151.197.31.93]
      • Most countries in Europe have Free Speech. I don't think any extend that right to entities which are not people (e.g. corporations) though. So you can say what you want, but not on company letterhead. If you make statements in a company press release, or sending threatening letters to others, then the other side has the right to go to court. If you are unable unable (or unwilling) to back up, then the court can order you to stop.
    • Finally! A humor that transcends boundaries!

      As a U.S. citizen:

      You are correct, but another interpretation is that this is a U.S. corporation, and it's a federal suit, and with our laws it may be a long time before the idiocy ends, so the joke is really at our expense.

      Dubya gives us the same problem.. (Republicans: s/Dubya/Clinton/)

  • "I know! Let's Sell In Europe!" (Score:5, Funny)

    by Mansing ( 42708 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:40PM (#8004405)
    I can hear that conversation ....

    Darl: I'm not gonna get my stock options. Who else can we sucker into buying our protection racket?

    Sontag: Let's try Europe!

    Ralph: Yeah, they don't know nothing about source code and licenses and stuff ...

    Darl: Yeah!

    The SCO stooges strike again. If they think the laws are harsh in the US, they would do well to remember the smack down they received in Germany.

    Is it:
    a. stupidity?
    b. greed?
    c. utter arrogance?
    d. all of the above?

  • BBC News site has it too (Score:5, Informative)

    by Zocalo ( 252965 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:41PM (#8004413) Homepage
    The BBC has the news as the lead article [bbc.co.uk] under the Techology section, which means it's linked off the front page. It's largely a "state of play" article, but does makes the point that SCO has already tried this in the US and had few takers and is yet to sue. Doesn't take much reading between the lines to see they are saying "don't bother paying", without compromising their neutrality... ;)

  • If they were serious they would have already... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jerry ( 6400 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:41PM (#8004414)
    filed lawsuites here in the USA, and we would be reading stories about the suite and the defendents.... but they aren't serious, they haven't filed any suites against linux users here. They are pumping and dumping their stock, and Darrell's scrapbook of news stories... again.

  • SCO is f*cked in Europe (Score:5, Interesting)

    by quigonn ( 80360 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:42PM (#8004423) Homepage
    Practially, SCO is f*cked in Europe. In Germany, they are not allowed to say anything about their "intellectual property" or their license. Should they try out anything similar in any other European country, they can expect to get f*cked the very same way they were f*cked in Germany. Oh, I love European legislation... it doesn't give fraudulent companes like SCO any chance.

  • SCO's Fatal Mistake... (Score:5, Funny)

    by shadowcabbit ( 466253 ) * <cx AT thefurryone DOT net> on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:43PM (#8004426) Journal
    ...will be trying this licensing shit in Russia.

    EVERYBODY knows you don't invade Russia. It screwed Napoleon, it screwed Hitler, and it's going to screw McBride.

  • February 1? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by rewt66 ( 738525 )
    After January 23, I expect they'll have a bit tougher time getting anybody to buy their "license".

  • "This just in!" (Score:4, Funny)

    by (1337) God ( 653941 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:43PM (#8004429)
    "Europe collectively has just extended their arms and given SCO the middle finger! It's a beautiful sight, Charley."
  • So, what i wanna know, is how can SCO sue people and companies in other countries. The same laws might not even apply. Infact, in the case of the usa, many of the draconian laws might not apply.

    Does anyone know how they might bully the people in other countries ?

    • Re:IANAL (Score:5, Interesting)

      by dexterpexter ( 733748 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @10:12PM (#8004579) Journal
      I am not completely familiar with this, but I believe that there is a general agreement in place that the international community attempts to enforce other countries' copyright violations. I believe that this was part of the Berne Convention (http://www.wipo.int/clea/docs/en/wo/wo001en.htm), assuming that you consider code a literary or artistic work which, in many cases, code is considered due to outdated laws in need of revision.

      What SCO is doing here, however, is reprehensible. A company with any integrity would first legally prove that they own a copyright and give the offending parties a chance to correct said mistake, not try to build a business model out of lawsuits. What is worse is that SCO is not only making a business model out of lawsuits, but they are profiting through soliciting licensing from people to whom they owe proof of infringement, but refure to give!

      I suspect that the international community will laugh at SCO when they try to enforce an unproven (and unlikely) claim of copyright violation.
      Its becoming even more apparent that this is just a product of sleazy business tactics.

      But the short answer to your question is that, if SCO were to prove (which they have yet to do) their claims, the international community might likely try to uphold that. However, they do not have to except in good faith. If they really wanted to, they could simply look at Mr. McBride and say "Bite me." Mr. McBride is setting SCO up to be crushed. Its just unfortunate that they can make money (by bullying with threats of licensing fees and lawsuits) through pumping and dumping their stock.

  • SCO insider trades (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Big Bob the Finder ( 714285 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:47PM (#8004445) Homepage Journal
    A list of the transactions taken by SCO's top brass since December is very telling. Sell, sell, sell. 1/07/04 THOMAS P RAIMONDI Director 11,841 Proposed Sale (Form 144) estimated proceeds of $213,138.00 1/07/04 THOMAS P RAIMONDI Director 11,841 Open Market Sale proceeds of $210,189.59 1/07/04 THOMAS P RAIMONDI Director 11,841 Exercise of Stock Options at cost of $13,261.92 12/29/03 R DUFF THOMPSON Director 10,000 Proposed Sale (Form 144) estimated proceeds of $173,400.00 12/29/03 R DUFF THOMPSON Director 10,000 Open Market Sale proceeds of $174,860.00 12/10/03 LARRY GASPARRO Divisional Officer 25,000 Proposed Sale (Form 144) estimated proceeds of $371,500.00 12/10/03 LARRY GASPARRO Divisional Officer 6,640 Open Market Sale proceeds of $100,190.25 12/10/03 LARRY GASPARRO Divisional Officer 6,640 Exercise of Stock Options at cost of $7,436.80
  • SCO has no IP rights on Europe to license.
    But on the other hand, having no rights haven't stopped them from trying to sell Linux licenses.

  • Monolith on duty (Score:5, Funny)

    by isomeme ( 177414 ) <cdberry@gmail.com> on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:51PM (#8004460) Journal
    Jeez, what part of "attempt no landing there" didn't they get?

    Oh, wait, that's Europa. Never mind.

  • Europe just ignores that shit (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:51PM (#8004463)
    I come from Europe, been in most Western-European countries and I think that Europe as a whole is not so much 'tainted' with patent-protection. Good thing. European companies will probably use SCO's letters as toilet paper, or piss on it.

    As a last resort there is the totally undemocratic but ever-so power-gaining European Commision which just declared open-source The Way To Go. What they'll probably do is (1) look at SCO's web site (2) see how mean looking that CEO is and (3) revert SCO letters to the trash bin. Also remember that the EU commision is quite happy to hand out 'fines' of hundreds of millions of dollars to whatever company that makes them cross. Yes.. sometimes semi-dictatorship is advantageous.

  • Mystyfied (Score:5, Funny)

    by TheZax ( 641389 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:52PM (#8004472) Journal

    There isn't enough crack in the world to explain this...

  • Will it be enough . . . (Score:5, Funny)

    by ir0b0t ( 727703 ) * <{gro.aluossimnepo} {ta} {llewejm}> on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:58PM (#8004502) Homepage Journal
    for SCO to lose in the US and Europe?

    The company should be broken into a billion tiny 1's and 0's and sprinkled into the fires of Mount Doom.

  • Our only hope... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Locky ( 608008 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:58PM (#8004506) Homepage
    Is the Russian Winter...
    • Oddly enough, the one time Russia was conquered by outsiders (the Mongols), it was during the winter. The marshes stopped being obstacles, and all those rivers which are normally a pain to cross became 13th (or was it 14th) century superhighways.

      And, regarding Napolean, he lost more troops in Spain:)

      Quack!

  • I am also selling licenses (Score:5, Funny)

    by ljavelin ( 41345 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @09:59PM (#8004508)
    WARNING! Do you own a car, know how to read, or view photographs? Then you may be using some of my intellectual property, and I may file a lawsuit against you, claiming hundreds or even billions in damages.

    Are you concerned? YOU SHOULD BE! Intellectual Property Theft is one of the most notorious crimes facing life on this planet. Terrorists often use Intellectual Property Theft to further their own evil goals. Stealling my intellectual propery is unAmerican.

    What can you do? Well, you can either give up on life, or you can buy a license from me! Feel comfortable driving, reading, or seeing things. Have no fear of turning into an unamerican terrorist. And all it costs is $350 per person!

    Isn't that a fair price for a piece of mind?

  • Yippiee! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 16, 2004 @10:00PM (#8004513)
    I can finally get my license!!!

  • Europe? Not everwhere (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 16, 2004 @10:04PM (#8004532)
    They couldn't sell or advertise their IP-license in Germany, because before they can do so, they have to prove that there is SCO-code in linux.

    There is an article about that on heise.de: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/jk-15.01.04-00 3/

    "We are not even allowed to talk about it" said an SCO-spokesman over IDG NewsService. Poor SCO :->

  • Nice Title (Score:2, Funny)

    by Effofx ( 640933 )
    SCO can license EUROPE? WOW!

    I hope there's a Luxemburg exclusion clause.

    I guess I better hurry up and start licensing MARS.
  • I'm not a 'bot, honestly. I type each one of these posts every time.

    Please copy and distribute Let's Put SCO Behind Bars [goingware.com]. It has a Creative Commons license. From the page:

    The stock of companies offerring Linux products and services may have been unfairly devalued as well. Stockholders in any of the affected companies - either SCO or its competitors - may wish to avail themselves of the Security and Exchange Commission's Investor Complaint Form [sec.gov] to ask that something be done about this. You may not e

  • SCO to offer licenses for dictionaries! (Score:5, Funny)

    by cpghost ( 719344 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @10:21PM (#8004620) Homepage

    SCO will expand its licensing program to all european foreign dictionaries in the near future.

    A quick seach shows that the english version of /usr/share/dict/words alone already contains 1613 words, which illegally include the SCO trademark. Examples are diSCO(tm)mfort, diSCO(tm)mmodity, MoSCO(tm)w.

    SCO, in the attempt to protect its trademark, and the legitimate interests of its stock owners, will sue everyone who uses any of these words without permission.

    Right now, the legal department of SCO is reviewing european word lists, and is expecting to find a huge amount of diSCO(tm)ompliance to the trademark and IP laws.

  • The best lines from Motley Fool (Score:3, Informative)

    by cpn2000 ( 660758 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @10:25PM (#8004632)
    SCO (the software maker formerly known as Caldera) has been shaking down Linux providers ...

    ... with the entire computing world putting its money behind Linux, it appears that, for SCO, the apocalypse is now.

  • SCO's just the diversion, what' really going on? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Proudrooster ( 580120 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @10:28PM (#8004658) Homepage
    To me it is becoming apparent that the SCO fiasco against IBM and Linux is a diversion, which is covering up something even more insidious. SCO isn't even trying with respect to the court case and is focused mostly on making as much noise and involving as many parties as possible? Anyone have any guesses or insights as to what we might be missing?

    Could it be as simple as ego? Is Bill Gates paying Daryl to replace him as the most hated man in high tech or, is this simply a scam to scare people away from using Linux? I just have a sinking feeling that the true enemy is about to sneak up behind us. Maybe I'm just paranoid but maybe, just maybe, I'm not paranoid enough.
    • What I think will happen, even though many people disagree, is that SCO and IBM will settle. This will further propagate the FUD that keeps down the smaller Linux operators and gives both SCO and IBM what they want: a chance to come out clean and free of any IP issues.

      We need to put just as much pressure on IBM to take this case all the way through. I won't be surprised if it gets settled. IBM settling would do more for IBM than winning the case, which would legitimize all of IBM's competition in the Li

      • MOD PARENT UP (Score:3, Insightful)

        by johannesg ( 664142 )
        I have for a long time feared something like this might happen in the end. IBM is not necessarily our friend. Any solution in which they (and nobody else) is allowed to use Linux might be considered advantageous by short-sighted executives.

        Then again, they could in fact be men of vision that appreciate that all of their OS-development is done for free by various people around the world...

    • It's a scheme to make Daryl money through stock price manipulation. That's all. It makes perfect sense if understood from that perspective.

    • Re:SCO's just the diversion, what' really going on (Score:4, Informative)

      by Artifakt ( 700173 ) on Saturday January 17, 2004 @01:51AM (#8005564)
      Nah, you're paranoid enough for two, but you're possibly right. However the answer is not to panic, but to figure out what the hidden part is.
      1. It could be Microsoft. I don't think Bill G and Darl actually planned the whole thing myself, but some people have mentioned it, so let's grant the possibility. If so, MS isn't up to a lot, they tried something, it is in the process of failure, they don't have a way to turn that around, so they are either regrouping or starting something else unrelated. IF MS has an evil plan, I hope they have enough sense to pick somebody totally unconnected to SCO for the next attempt, cause anything less is unworthy.
      2. There could be problems throughout SCOs parent, the Canopy Group. That could lead to another stock market scandle as big as Enron (SCO by itself is much smaller), but it's not particularly related to Linux, and most slashdotters are either unaffected, or just need to check their retirement fund account to make sure it's not vested, not just in SCO, but not heavily in SCO's sister corporations. If that actually turns out to be true, I'll give you a pat on the back for being just paranoid enough.
      So, if you wanted to look up the Canopy Group's holdings, and see if others are involved in lots of lawsuits, etc. You could maybe either allay your fears or prove you were right.

  • Job opportunities at SCO (Score:5, Interesting)

    by iamnotaclown ( 169747 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @10:52PM (#8004772)
    http://www.sco.com/company/jobs/

    I kid you not:

    Software Engineer (05 Nov 2003)
    Internal Audit (21 Nov 2003)
    Director of Financial Reporting (08 Dec 2003)
    Inside Sales Manager (09 Jan 2004)
    Senior Software Engineer (13 Jan 2004)

    Kinda tells a little story, doesn't it. :-)

  • I already have a license (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Mentorix ( 620009 ) <slashdot@benben.com> on Friday January 16, 2004 @11:21PM (#8004901)
    And it's called the GPL.

    Speaking as an admin for some 130 linux boxes in The Netherlands I can assure SCO that they will be wasting their time. Mr. McBride can go and stick his license where the sun don't shine.

    The second they start spewing their bullshit over here I will not be surprised when they get sued for slander (like in Germany), I know of several companies over here that are already preparing a combined legal strategy in case SCO starts getting uppity. There are a lot of large hosting providers and ISP's/ASP's around Amsterdam who rely heavily on Linux, there's no way they will allow SCO to intterrupt their business.

    Actually, I can't wait for SCO to enter the justice system, dutch courts are very wary of corporate greed at the moment.

    -- .sig away, earning rent.

  • Hope your portfolio isn't awash with SCOX (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mabu ( 178417 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @11:49PM (#8005048)
    Speaking of stock, 30+% of SCO stock is held by mutual funds and other institutional owners, so if you believe that SCO is going to lose this case, which seems likely, expect all the shareholders to take huge losses when this stock sinks. A look at the history of their stock shows it's way over-valued anyway. If you have annuities or mutual funds, you really need to find out if they have SCO in their portfolio cause you're going to get burned!

    Capital Guardian Trust Company 1,177,800 8.51 $16,288,974 30-Sep-03
    Integral Capital Management Vi, LLC 316,600 2.29 $4,378,578 30-Sep-03
    Royce & Associates, Inc. 1,441,200 10.41 $19,931,796 30-Sep-03
    Integral Capital Management V, LLC 246,730 1.78 $3,412,275 30-Sep-03
    Empire Capital Partners LP 205,000 1.48 $1,961,849 30-Jun-03
    Barclays Bank Plc 174,686 1.26 $2,415,907 30-Sep-03
    Bjurman, Barry & Associates 160,000 1.16 $2,212,800 30-Sep-03
    ING Investments, LLC 143,100 1.03 $1,979,073 30-Sep-03
    Oberweis Asset Management Inc. 112,000 0.81 $1,548,960 30-Sep-03
    Whitney Asset Management LLC 76,967 0.56 $1,064,453 30-Sep-03

    More details HERE [yahoo.com].

  • Is this stock typical? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by strider3700 ( 109874 ) on Friday January 16, 2004 @11:57PM (#8005099)
    Ok I've been following along with this story for quite awhile now and I personally believe sco is going to lose the case. It should be the end of the company at that time. Now I was just at the nasdaq site looking to see how the recent news has affected sco. While there I started looking into some of it's numbers and found that overall if I knew nothing about the company everything looks pretty good. Hell they even went from losing money to having an actual earnings/share in the past year. There stock is ranked as being an average risk and there is both a buy rating and a sell rating in the analysis. Something worth $250,000,000 could be worth $2 in less then 30 days time and it's an average risk?

    This leaves me wondering just how many other stocks out there are rated so highly based off of a hope and prayer? Is the entire system this easily manipulated?
    • This leaves me wondering just how many other stocks out there are rated so highly based off of a hope and prayer? Is the entire system this easily manipulated?

      The buy/sell system has been manipulated for the last decade. Flip through some back issues of the financial rags and you'll see all sorts of articles related to the "chinese-wall" between different sides of the investment banks. Basically, analysts have been known to promote stocks that the other side of the company is either IPO'ing or would ma
    • I'm surprised it would say Average. Even the Deutsch Bank shill who was trying to pump the price last summer after BayStar gave SCO $50 million said that the stock was highly risky and would likely be worth nothing if SCO lost their lawsuit against IBM. All of the SCO shills, such as Yankee Group, say that the stock is a gamble, but that it will become extremely valuable if SCO prevails. What they severely underestimate (or just lie about) is the likelyhood of SCO losing in court.
    • Something worth $250,000,000 could be worth $2 in less then 30 days time and it's an average risk?

      Actually, there's an average risk you'll lose money if you try to short it. Maybe they weren'
      t clear enough.
      If I had $20,000 to bet, I'd have shorted some SCO stock a couple of days ago.

  • Scox doesn't want to sell licenses in Europe (Score:4, Insightful)

    by walterbyrd ( 182728 ) on Saturday January 17, 2004 @12:12AM (#8005181)
    or anywhere else.

    Selling a license to a technology that you do not own is serious fraud - prison time. Scox doesn't own linux.

    Scox just wants "investors" to think that scox has some possible new sources on revenue.

    A few people from the UK have already tried to buy licenses, scox wont sell them. Scox won't sell those licenses in the USA either. Call scox up and ask.

  • time to turn "sco" into generic noun & verb (Score:5, Funny)

    by gg510 ( 742395 ) on Saturday January 17, 2004 @01:11AM (#8005424)

    It's time to turn "sco" into a generic noun and a generic verb.

    Noun definition: "a loser who resorts to deceitful or coersive tactics due to a lack of imagination or principles." Synonymous with "scumbag." Also, "a fraudulent or coercive scheme." Synonymous with "scam."

    For example, "That sco tried to rip me off!" and "Don't fall for that, it's just a sco."

    Verb definition: "to deceive or coerce someone, or obtain something through deceit or coersion, due to a lack of imagination or principles, or a combination of laziness and greed." Synonymous with "to screw."

    For example, "They tried to sco me, but I didn't fall for it."

    There's a certain poetic justice in this. SCO is trying to take something that belongs to *all of us* and make it exclusively *theirs*. Turning their name into a generic noun and verb, turns the tables and makes something that is/was "theirs" into something that belongs to *everyone*. Best part is, they can't stop it!

  • American Business Practices (Score:3, Insightful)

    by stewwy ( 687854 ) on Saturday January 17, 2004 @04:43AM (#8006082)
    Honestly not a troll just an observation. Looking at it from this side of the pond (uk) and looking at the way business is conducted (or at least reported) you would think that this was Nigeria we are talking about and not the US! We see things like SCO (pondlife?-sorry pun) trying to come over here, the latest accounting scandal (todays is: worlds largest recruitment firm reports accounting irregularities in it's American operation) together with reports of the Bush administration feathering it's nest over Iraq etc and it seems like the actions of a tin pot dictatorship and not that of a modern democracy Sorry to be negative, the US is a great country I've been there several times and always been made welcome (probably won't be allowed in now, after posting this! ---tinfoil hat time)

  • Getcha motor running (Score:5, Funny)

    by HogynCymraeg ( 624823 ) on Saturday January 17, 2004 @07:00AM (#8006361)
    What's the difference between Darl McBride and a car battery?

    A car battery has a positive side!

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